Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Three Identical Strangers

Three Identical Strangers is a 2018 documentary film directed by Tim Wardle that examines the reunion of identical triplets separated at birth and adopted into different socioeconomic families by the New York-based Louise Wise Services agency.^[1] The subjects—Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman—were born on July 12, 1961, to a single mother and relinquished for adoption shortly after birth; agency psychiatrist Viola W. Bernard, who favored separating multiples to ease family burdens, influenced their placement into homes varying in class and parenting styles, with adoptive parents unaware of the siblings' existence.^[2]^[3] The brothers discovered each other serendipitously in 1980 at age 19, when Shafran enrolled at Sullivan County Community College and was mistaken for Galland, leading to Kellman's identification via media appeals; their striking similarities in appearance, mannerisms, and preferences fueled public fascination and brief celebrity, including a joint restaurant venture.^[4]^[5] The film uncovers how the separations coincided with a secretive longitudinal study directed by child psychiatrist Peter B. Neubauer, who collaborated with the agency to observe the children's development for insights into nature-versus-nurture dynamics, involving periodic assessments without disclosing the full context to families or participants.^[6]^[7] This research, part of broader efforts examining at least eight twin pairs and the triplets, has drawn scrutiny for ethical lapses, including deception, absence of informed consent, and withholding sibling information, practices that violated emerging standards like the 1974 National Research Act.^[6]^[8] Neubauer's records, donated to Yale University, remain sealed until 2065, limiting direct empirical access and fueling debates over the study's validity and intent—some analyses question whether separations were engineered solely for experimentation or aligned with pre-existing agency policies, highlighting potential overstatements in popular narratives.^[6]^[2] Despite shared genetics yielding parallel traits like smoking habits and entrepreneurial drives, the brothers encountered divergent outcomes, underscored by Galland's suicide in 1995 amid mental health struggles, which the film links to possible unaddressed familial risks and environmental stressors rather than purely adoptive influences.^[2]^[7] Premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival where it earned a special jury award, the documentary critiques institutional opacity in adoption and research, prompting renewed calls for unsealing records and addressing legacies of non-consensual studies, though survivor accounts and limited data constrain causal attributions to the separation itself.^[1]^[2]

The Triplets' Story

Separation and Early Lives

The identical triplets—Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman—were born on July 12, 1961, to an unwed teenage mother in New York City and relinquished for adoption shortly after birth.^[9]^[10] Placed with the Louise Wise Services adoption agency, a prominent Jewish agency in New York, the infants were intentionally separated at a few months old and adopted into distinct families selected to represent varying socioeconomic statuses and parenting styles, as part of a longitudinal psychological study on nature versus nurture led by psychiatrist Peter B. Neubauer in collaboration with agency consultant Viola Bernard.^[11]^[12]^[13] Galland was adopted by a middle-class family in New Hyde Park, Long Island; Kellman by a working-class (blue-collar) family in Queens; and Shafran by an upper-middle-class family in Scarsdale, Westchester County.^[12]^[13] All three families resided in New York suburbs within approximately 100 square miles of one another, and the adoptive parents, unaware of the siblings' existence or the study's full scope, raised them as only children with no knowledge of their multiple birth.^[14]^[15] Researchers affiliated with the study conducted periodic home visits over the years, observing the children's development through psychological assessments, interviews, and footage, though the families were informed only that the agency routinely monitored adoptees' progress.^[16] Despite divergent environments—one household reportedly more permissive, another stricter—the triplets exhibited parallel traits in early childhood, such as similar speech patterns and mannerisms noted anecdotally by their families, though they remained oblivious to their genetic connections until adulthood.^[12]^[17] The separation aligned with the agency's then-influential policy, shaped by Bernard's view that placing multiples together could hinder individual identity formation and overburden adoptive parents, while enabling Neubauer's comparative analysis of environmental impacts on identical siblings.^[2]^[18]

Discovery and Reunion in 1980

In September 1980, 19-year-old Robert Shafran, who had been adopted and raised in Scarsdale, New York, arrived at Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake for his freshman year.^[5] Upon entering the dorms, students greeted him with hugs, high-fives, and familiarity, repeatedly addressing him as "Eddy" and treating him as a returning acquaintance.^[19] Shafran, puzzled by the reactions, learned from fellow students that Eddy Galland—a previous attendee who had dropped out after punching a hole in a dorm wall during an argument—shared his exact appearance, leading him to suspect a previously unknown twin.^[16] Accompanied by his college friend Michael Domnitz, Shafran drove that day to Galland's adoptive family home on Long Island, where the two young men met face-to-face.^[13] They immediately recognized their identical physical features, confirmed a shared birthdate of July 12, 1961, and revealed matching adoption records from the Louise Wise Services agency in New York City, initially concluding they were long-lost twins separated at birth.^[20] Their uncanny similarities extended to preferences for Marlboro cigarettes, an interest in wrestling, and taste in women, fostering an instant rapport.^[13] The encounter's novelty prompted media coverage, including photographs in New York tabloids like the New York Post.^[16] David Kellman, also 19, adopted, and living in Queens, spotted the newspaper images of Shafran and Galland, noting their resemblance to himself and prompting his adoptive mother to urge him to investigate.^[20] Kellman contacted the pair via the published details, leading to a meeting that confirmed the three were identical triplets, not merely twins, all separated shortly after birth in 1961.^[16] The reunion evoked profound emotional responses, with the brothers exhibiting synchronized behaviors such as finishing each other's sentences and sharing identical IQ scores from childhood tests, which deepened their bond and propelled them into national media spotlight, including appearances on programs hosted by Tom Brokaw and Phil Donahue.^[13]^[20]

Post-Reunion Experiences and Outcomes

Following their 1980 reunion, the triplets—Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman—experienced brief celebrity, appearing on television programs such as the Today show and Oprah Winfrey Show, which capitalized on their identical appearances and synchronized mannerisms.^[16] They capitalized on this fame by opening a restaurant named Triplets in New York City in the mid-1980s, which drew crowds but operated for only a few years before closing amid financial difficulties and interpersonal strains.^[21] The venture highlighted their shared entrepreneurial spirit but ultimately failed to sustain long-term success.^[22] All three reported early mental health challenges post-reunion, including difficulties adjusting to sudden fame and grappling with identity questions arising from their separation.^[9] Galland, diagnosed with manic depression (now termed bipolar disorder), faced severe episodes requiring hospitalization; he attempted suicide prior to his death and ultimately died by suicide on June 16, 1995, at age 33 in his Maplewood, New Jersey home, leaving behind a wife and infant daughter.^[9] ^[13] Shafran and Kellman have attributed some of these struggles to the psychological toll of discovering their unwitting participation in a secretive adoption study, though they emphasize personal resilience in interviews.^[16] Shafran pursued a career in law, residing in Brooklyn with his wife and two children, though he paused professional activities following a 2011 motorcycle accident.^[22] Kellman, based in New Jersey, works as an independent trader and has navigated a divorce, while maintaining involvement in advocacy related to adoption ethics.^[22] By the late 2010s, following the release of the 2018 documentary Three Identical Strangers, the surviving brothers' relationship had become estranged, limiting joint public appearances, though both have separately pursued legal inquiries into the study that separated them.^[13]^[23]

The Adoption Study

Origins and Institutional Context

The adoption study central to the Three Identical Strangers case emerged in the 1960s from a collaboration between Louise Wise Services (LWS), a prominent New York City adoption agency founded in 1916, and child development researchers interested in disentangling genetic and environmental influences on personality and behavior. LWS, which primarily facilitated adoptions for Jewish children but served broader clientele, routinely placed infants from unwed mothers into screened homes; however, for multiples like the Galland-Kellman-Shafran triplets born on March 12, 1961, the agency implemented a deliberate policy of separation into distinct families stratified by socioeconomic status—one working-class, one middle-class, and one upper-middle-class—to enable comparative observation of developmental outcomes.^[8]^[16]^[24] This initiative was spearheaded by psychiatrist Peter B. Neubauer, an Austrian émigré who directed the Child Development Center at the Jewish Board of Guardians (later Jewish Child Care Association) and consulted for LWS, in partnership with psychologist Viola W. Bernard, a LWS consultant who advocated separating twins to foster independent identities and avoid overburdening adoptive parents—rationale that masked the experimental intent. Neubauer, drawing on post-World War II psychoanalytic emphases on early environment and attachment, designed the longitudinal tracking of at least 13 separated multiples (including eight twin pairs and the one triplet set) through home visits, psychological assessments, and parent interviews, without disclosing the full siblingship to families or obtaining informed consent.^[2]^[25]^[26] Institutionally, the study reflected the era's lax oversight in psychological research, predating stringent institutional review boards, and involved informal ties to academic centers; Neubauer, though not a Yale faculty member, deposited the raw data—comprising thousands of pages on observations and test results—in Yale University's archives in the 1980s or 1990s, where it remains sealed until 2065 per his stipulation, limiting access even to participants. LWS coordinated placements and data collection until its closure in 2004 amid unrelated scandals, transferring records to successor agencies like Spence-Chapin, while the absence of published comprehensive findings underscores the project's opacity within mid-century adoption and psychiatry circles.^[6]^[27]^[28]

Researchers and Methodology

The study was directed by child psychiatrist Peter B. Neubauer, who served as director of the Child Development Center affiliated with the Jewish Board of Guardians in New York.^[3] Neubauer collaborated with fellow psychiatrist Viola W. Bernard, and the research was conducted in partnership with the Louise Wise Services adoption agency, which facilitated the placements.^[6]^[27] This effort, initiated in the 1950s and extending through the 1960s and 1970s, examined genetic versus environmental influences on development by prospectively tracking separated identical multiples.^[27]^[3] The core methodology centered on the deliberate separation of at least eight pairs of identical twins and one set of triplets immediately after birth, followed by their placement into separate adoptive families without disclosing the multiples' existence to the parents.^[6] Adoptive families were chosen to match in socioeconomic status and prior adoption experience—typically having already adopted one child to avoid creating only-children households—but were selected to provide contrasting rearing environments, such as differences in family dynamics and emotional climates, to isolate environmental variables.^[3] Placements emphasized well-off households, with some parents reportedly requesting twins but being denied to maintain the separation.^[3] Longitudinal data collection spanned from infancy to at least age 12, involving periodic home visits for direct observation.^[6]^[3] Researchers conducted interviews with adoptive parents and the children, administered psychological tests including assessments of math and reading abilities, and gathered multimedia evidence such as photographs and videos of developmental activities like bicycle riding or ballet.^[6] Additional data encompassed school records, medical histories, personal letters, life history narratives, and other documents to track cognitive, emotional, and behavioral trajectories.^[3] The study's design prioritized comparative analysis across separated siblings while concealing its full intent from participants.^[27]

Data Collection and Unpublished Results

The study conducted by Peter B. Neubauer and associates at the Child Development Center involved longitudinal observation of separated monozygotic twins and triplets placed for adoption through Louise Wise Services, with data collection spanning infancy through at least age 12. Researchers performed periodic home visits to the adoptive families, during which they conducted interviews with parents and children, took photographs, and recorded videos of developmental activities such as bicycle riding and ballet performances.^[6]^[27] Psychological and developmental assessments included standardized tests like picture identification tasks, math problems, and reading evaluations to track cognitive and behavioral progress.^[6] These methods aimed to compare outcomes across varying socioeconomic and familial environments while maintaining secrecy about the siblings' existence, as adoptive parents were informed only of routine post-adoption monitoring rather than the experimental separation.^[27] The dataset encompassed approximately 11 participants—four twin pairs and one triplet set—with detailed records on individual trajectories stored in physical archives.^[29] Neubauer never published comprehensive results from the study, despite its prospective design offering a rare opportunity to examine gene-environment interactions in real-time separation cases.^[27] In 1990, the Child Development Center deposited the raw data, including assessments and observations, at Yale University's archives under an agreement sealing them until October 25, 2065, limiting access even to participants.^[6] Limited releases have included heavily redacted documents—such as 700 pages provided to one participant's relative—but exclude videos, photos, or unredacted psychological profiles, hindering independent verification.^[6] Inferences from participant interviews and partial records, as analyzed by twin researcher Nancy L. Segal, indicate striking similarities in IQ scores, personality traits, and mannerisms among the separated siblings, underscoring genetic influences despite divergent upbringings; however, the small sample size precludes broad generalizations, and environmental stressors correlated with adverse outcomes like three suicides among over 15 involved children.^[29]^[6] Neubauer's 1990 book Nature's Thumbprint referenced twin studies generically but omitted specifics of this cohort, fueling speculation that findings challenging environmental determinism may have contributed to the non-publication.^[27]

Scientific Implications

Evidence of Genetic Influences

The triplets—Robert Shafran, David Kellman, and Edward Galland—demonstrated striking behavioral and cognitive parallels upon their 1980 reunion, despite being raised in distinct socioeconomic environments: Shafran in an upper-middle-class family in Scarsdale, New York; Kellman in a working-class home in Queens; and Galland in a middle-class household on Long Island.^[16] ^[22] These included synchronized mannerisms, such as laughing and speaking in identical patterns, and shared preferences like smoking the same cigarette brand (Salems), favoring the same beer, and gravitating toward blonde girlfriends.^[30] ^[19] Such congruences, independent of shared upbringing, align with genetic heritability in behavioral traits observed in separated identical twin studies.^[31] Cognitive assessments further underscored genetic factors, with all three scoring identically at 148 on IQ tests administered post-reunion, a result consistent across independent evaluations despite divergent educational opportunities.^[30] ^[32] They also reported parallel life milestones, including losing virginity around age 15 or 16, and exhibited matching physical markers like birthmarks.^[30] These patterns suggest strong genetic determination for intelligence and certain impulsivities, as environmental disparities (e.g., one triplet's family emphasizing discipline versus another's permissiveness) failed to produce divergence.^[24] ^[33] Shared mental health vulnerabilities provided additional evidence, with all three developing severe depression in adulthood, culminating in Galland's suicide in 1995; such familial clustering in monozygotic siblings points to heritable predispositions rather than solely adoptive stressors.^[31] ^[8] The Louise Wise Agency's separation protocol, informed by psychiatrist Peter Neubauer's nature-nurture hypothesis, aimed to isolate these effects but yielded no public data, leaving anecdotal observations as primary indicators of genetic primacy in the case.^[19] ^[34]

Environmental Factors and Limitations

The triplets were intentionally placed by the Louise Wise Services adoption agency into adoptive families spanning different socioeconomic statuses (SES) to assess the impact of varied rearing environments on development, with one family classified as working-class, another as middle-class, and the third as upper-middle-class.^[24]^[33] All families, however, underwent rigorous screening for stability, education, and compatibility with agency standards, potentially introducing similarities in parenting philosophies and cultural exposure despite SES variance.^[27]^[35] Upon reunion at age 19 in 1980, the brothers exhibited pronounced similarities in physical traits (e.g., sturdy build, curly hair), cognitive abilities (e.g., comparable IQ scores), behavioral patterns (e.g., wrestling participation, preference for fast driving and smoking), and interpersonal styles (e.g., speech inflections, gestures, taste in partners and food), which persisted despite divergent upbringings.^[36]^[24] These convergences suggested that the environmental differences tested—primarily SES-related variations in material resources and family dynamics—exerted limited influence on core personality and aptitude formation.^[36] Later divergences, such as Edward Galland's development of manic depression leading to suicide in 1995, highlighted potential roles for gene-environment interactions or unique stressors (e.g., post-reunion fame and business pressures), though all three faced similar adult adversities like divorces and financial setbacks.^[24]^[19] Key limitations in evaluating environmental effects include the non-random, agency-curated placements, which prioritized stable homes over extremes of deprivation or pathology, thus constraining the range of environmental variance and confounding SES with shared selection biases.^[27]^[33] Geographic proximity (all in the New York area) and cultural homogeneity (e.g., Jewish adoptive families) further minimized broader contextual differences, while prenatal shared environment and subtle agency influences on families (via periodic visits) introduced uncontrolled variables.^[36]^[35] The study's small sample size (one triplet set among a handful of multiples) and sealed, unpublished raw data until at least 2065 preclude comprehensive verification or replication, limiting causal inferences about environmental potency relative to genetics.^[6]^[7]

Broader Context of Twin Studies

Twin studies in behavioral genetics emerged in the late 19th century, pioneered by Francis Galton, who in 1875 proposed using twins to assess the relative influences of heredity ("nature") and environment ("nurture") on human traits, noting that identical twins' similarities despite separation could isolate genetic effects.^[37] Early 20th-century researchers expanded this to compare monozygotic (MZ) twins, who share nearly 100% of their genes, with dizygotic (DZ) twins, who share about 50%, typically reared together; higher trait correlations in MZ versus DZ pairs indicate heritability, the proportion of variance attributable to genetics.^[38] Studies of MZ twins reared apart, rarer due to separation events like adoption, provide stronger causal evidence by minimizing shared postnatal environments, though such cases often stem from institutional policies rather than random assignment.^[39] The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MSTRA), initiated in 1979 by Thomas Bouchard and colleagues at the University of Minnesota, exemplifies this approach, recruiting over 100 MZ pairs separated early in life and assessing traits via interviews, IQ tests, and personality inventories. Key findings included intraclass correlations of approximately 0.70 for IQ, indicating about 70% heritability, and similar patterns for traits like extraversion and conservatism, with twins showing striking similarities in mannerisms, hobbies, and life choices despite diverse upbringings.^[40] ^[41] Broader meta-analyses of twin data confirm IQ heritability rising linearly from 41% in childhood to 66% in adulthood, reflecting gene-environment interactions where genetic influences amplify with age as individuals select environments matching their predispositions.^[42] For personality, heritability estimates range from 15% to 55% across Big Five dimensions, underscoring genetics' role without negating environmental modulation.^[43] These results align with adoption studies and genome-wide association data, converging on moderate-to-high heritability for cognitive and behavioral traits, challenging purely environmental explanations and informing fields from psychiatry to education.^[44] However, the classical twin method assumes the equal environments assumption (EEA), positing that MZ and DZ twins experience equivalently similar trait-relevant environments; critics argue MZ twins often face more similar treatment due to their identical appearance, potentially inflating heritability estimates by conflating genetic and cultural similarity.^[45] ^[46] Empirical tests, including surveys of twin treatment and longitudinal data, largely support the EEA for core traits like IQ and political attitudes, with violations explaining minimal bias (less than 5% variance), though skeptics in social sciences, influenced by ideological priors against genetic determinism, emphasize non-shared environments and measurement artifacts.^[47] ^[48] Despite debates, twin studies' predictions have been corroborated by emerging molecular genetics, affirming their utility in partitioning variance while highlighting limits in identifying specific causal genes or interactions.^[49]

Ethical and Legal Issues

The separation of multiples, including the triplets featured in the documentary, occurred as part of a study initiated in the 1960s by child psychiatrist Peter Neubauer in collaboration with psychologist Viola Bernard and the Louise Wise Services adoption agency, without obtaining informed consent from biological parents, adoptive parents, or the children themselves.^[6]^[27] Adoptive parents were informed only of routine developmental monitoring visits by researchers, who concealed the study's true purpose of examining genetic versus environmental influences through deliberate sibling separation.^[34]^[7] Bernard advocated for splitting multiples to foster individual identities and avoid perceived parental overburdening, but this rationale was not disclosed to families, who were led to believe placements prioritized child welfare over experimental design.^[35] Deception extended to the ongoing data collection, where researchers conducted home visits, psychological assessments, and observations from infancy through adolescence without revealing that the children were multiples or that comparisons were being made across separated siblings placed in families of differing socioeconomic statuses.^[50]^[51] For the triplets—Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran—born in 1961 and separated at birth, this meant 19 years of unaware isolation until their chance reunion in 1980, during which Neubauer's team amassed detailed records on their development without participant knowledge or assent.^[6] The absence of transparency violated emerging ethical standards, such as those later codified in the 1979 Belmont Report emphasizing respect for persons through informed consent, as the study predated but disregarded principles of autonomy in human subjects research.^[34] Participant harm manifested in long-term psychological distress, exacerbated by the post-reunion discovery of the experiment's role in their separation.^[7] The triplets experienced identity crises, relational strains, and failed joint business ventures amid media scrutiny, with Edward Galland dying by suicide in 1995 at age 33, a fate echoed in at least two other separated twins from the study.^[6]^[35] Broader study participants reported resentment over denied sibling bonds and withheld records—sealed at Yale University until 2065 despite legal challenges—compounding emotional trauma from lifelong deception and preventing therapeutic closure or independent verification of developmental data.^[6]^[7] No remedial interventions were provided by researchers during or after the study, leaving harms unmitigated despite evidence of genetic similarities underscoring the separation's questionable necessity.^[34]

Access to Records and Ongoing Secrecy

The triplets, upon reuniting in 1980, sought access to their adoption and study-related records from Louise Wise Services (LWS), but were denied comprehensive disclosure, with the agency citing privacy protections and withholding key details about the separation experiment.^[7] Families of other separated multiples similarly faced barriers, as LWS researchers like Peter Neubauer maintained strict confidentiality, sharing only limited, redacted observations with adoptive parents under the guise of developmental monitoring rather than revealing the full experimental design.^[27] This opacity persisted even after public scrutiny intensified following the 2018 documentary Three Identical Strangers, which highlighted failed attempts by the brothers—Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman—to obtain unredacted files, including psychological assessments and placement rationales.^[6] Following LWS's closure in 2004, the agency's records, including those from Neubauer's study involving at least 13 sets of twins and one set of triplets, were transferred to Yale University under an agreement stipulating they remain sealed until October 25, 2065—100 years after the study's initiation.^[7]^[6] Yale has upheld this restriction despite repeated demands from participants for their own files, arguing the seal honors donor-imposed conditions intended to safeguard sensitive data on adoptees and families.^[6] Neubauer, who died in 2008, never published the full dataset, leaving findings unverifiable and fueling speculation about concealed outcomes, such as potential evidence of genetic influences on behavior that might challenge prevailing environmentalist views in mid-20th-century psychology.^[27]^[28] As of 2021, no substantive progress has been reported in unsealing the archives, with Yale continuing to deny access even to scholarly researchers, thereby perpetuating ethical concerns over participant autonomy and transparency in human subjects research.^[27] This ongoing secrecy has prompted calls for institutional review, including from bioethicists who argue the seal undermines accountability for a study conducted without informed consent and involving deliberate family separations.^[7]^[28] Participants like the triplets' surviving brothers have expressed frustration over lost opportunities to review materials that could inform their mental health histories, particularly amid reported familial tragedies such as Edward Galland's suicide in 1995.^[6] The arrangement reflects broader tensions in archival ethics, where donor anonymity clashes with subjects' rights to their personal data.^[28]

Implications for Research Ethics and Adoption

The separation of the triplets in the Neubauer study exemplified profound ethical lapses in research involving human subjects, particularly the absence of informed consent from biological mothers, adoptive parents, or the children themselves, as adoptive families were deceived into believing they were adopting singletons without knowledge of siblings or the experimental placement.^[7]^[6] Researchers, including Peter Neubauer, conducted covert observations and assessments over decades without disclosing the study's purpose or providing participants access to findings, violating principles of autonomy and beneficence outlined in post-1974 ethical frameworks like the Belmont Report, which emphasized respect for persons and minimization of harm.^[52]^[34] This deception contributed to documented psychological distress, including one triplet's suicide in 1995, potentially exacerbated by undiagnosed shared genetic vulnerabilities unmitigated by sibling support.^[7] The study's unpublished results and sealed records—deposited at Yale University and inaccessible until 2065—further underscore failures in transparency and accountability, as Neubauer prioritized confidentiality over participants' rights to their own data, hindering independent ethical review and replication.^[6]^[53] These practices have informed contemporary research ethics, reinforcing mandates for institutional review board oversight, prospective consent in adoption-related studies, and post hoc disclosure requirements, as seen in guidelines from bodies like the American Psychological Association, which now prohibit deceptive designs without rigorous justification and debriefing.^[52] In adoption practices, the Louise Wise Services' collaboration with researchers highlighted risks of institutional secrecy, where separating multiples was rationalized as preventing family overload but effectively served experimental aims, leading to lifelong identity disruptions for adoptees unaware of their origins until adulthood.^[51]^[8] Post-scandal reforms, including the agency's absorption into Spence-Chapin in 2005 amid scrutiny, prompted U.S. adoption policies favoring sibling preservation when feasible, with states like New York enacting laws by the 1980s requiring agencies to disclose sibling information unless contraindicated by welfare concerns.^[28] This case catalyzed advocacy for open records access, influencing the 1990s push for adoptee rights legislation and ethical standards in agencies to prioritize family integrity over unverified environmental theories.^[7]

Documentary Production

Development and Key Contributors

The documentary Three Identical Strangers originated in the mid-2010s at the London-based production company Raw, where Tim Wardle, then head of development, was pitched the triplets' story by a colleague who described it as the most compelling documentary subject ever encountered.^[54] Wardle, a BAFTA-nominated filmmaker with prior experience in true-crime documentaries, immediately recognized its potential and committed to directing, initiating a four-year production process marked by challenges in securing trust from the subjects and funding from broadcasters.^[55] ^[56] Early efforts included multiple unsuccessful pitches to U.S. networks, with financing ultimately withdrawn six hours before the first shoot, necessitating persistence over two years of story development before principal photography commenced in 2017.^[55] Producer Grace Hughes-Hallett played a pivotal role in outreach, contacting triplet Robert Shafran via his stepmother in London to gain initial access and cooperation from the brothers, a process that required building rapport amid their reluctance due to past media exploitation.^[55] Co-producer Becky Read focused on investigative research, spending nine months negotiating access to 11,000 pages of sealed records from the Louise Wise Services adoption agency held at Yale University, which revealed details of the underlying twin study.^[55] These efforts culminated in breakthrough interviews with the triplets in 2017, enabling the film to expand beyond their reunion into the ethical dimensions of their separation.^[55] Central contributors included director Tim Wardle, who oversaw narrative construction and emphasized emotional authenticity; producers Grace Hughes-Hallett and Becky Read, handling subject relations and archival deep dives; and editor Michael Harte, who integrated reenactments and interviews for pacing.^[55] Executive producers such as Dimitri Doganis of Raw provided strategic oversight, with financing from CNN Films and UK broadcaster Channel 4 supporting the independent production.^[57] ^[58] The film's completion in 2018 reflected Raw's track record in investigative documentaries, though it faced ongoing hurdles in obtaining cooperation from study principal Peter B. Neubauer, who declined involvement before his death in 2018.^[55]

Filmmaking Techniques and Challenges

The documentary employed a narrative structure that blended chronological recounting of the triplets' 1980 reunion with an unfolding investigative mystery, creating thriller-like suspense through carefully timed reveals in editing.^[55]^[59] Director Tim Wardle structured the film to intertwine personal stories from the brothers with broader themes of separation and nature versus nurture, evolving the balance during post-production to heighten emotional impact without prior scripting.^[60] Editing by Michael Harte recontextualized archival footage—such as home videos and news clips from the 1980s—with later revelations, while experiment-related material played over the end credits to underscore unresolved questions.^[59] Interviews were filmed in single, unscripted takes to capture raw authenticity, with subjects seated on uncomfortable chairs to discourage rehearsed responses and prompted to recount events as if for the first time.^[59] Cinematographer Tim Cragg shot primarily on an ARRI Amira camera in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio using handheld Angenieux zoom lenses for a intimate, human-scale feel, paired with minimal Dogme-style lighting (e.g., Litemats and Dedolight units) and a small crew to foster comfort in personal settings like homes.^[61] Brief reenactments, such as Robert Shafran's college arrival, filled evidentiary gaps and engaged viewers, filmed in Toronto with period-appropriate Canon K35mm primes for an impressionistic quality matching the archival material.^[59]^[61] Production spanned four years of development, marked by challenges in securing subject trust after decades of media exploitation and skepticism toward outsiders.^[60] Wardle noted persistent fears that the brothers might withdraw, requiring two years of relationship-building before filming in 2017.^[55]^[59] Accessing 11,000 pages of sealed study records from Yale University—embargoed until 2065—involved nine months of negotiation and traditional investigative methods, including door-knocking and contacting over 200 individuals, as pre-internet era details limited digital trails.^[55]^[60] Funding nearly collapsed multiple times, including a withdrawal six hours before the initial 2017 shoot, and prior network attempts in the 1980s and 1990s faced shutdowns from adoption agency legal threats.^[55] Ethical dilemmas arose in handling sensitive records, leading the team to omit full disclosures to protect privacy while critiquing the experiment's deceptions.^[55]^[59] Budget constraints restricted research travel, and scheduling delays accommodated emerging findings, testing the project's viability amid resistance from institutions guarding the story.^[60]^[55]

Release Details and Awards

The documentary Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018.^[62] It received a limited theatrical release in the United States on June 29, 2018, distributed by Neon.^[63] The film has a running time of 96 minutes and grossed $12.3 million at the North American box office.^[63]^[64] Three Identical Strangers garnered significant recognition, including 12 wins and 58 nominations across various awards bodies.^[65] It won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries in 2019.^[65] The film was nominated for Best Documentary at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards in 2019.^[66] It also received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2019: Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program.^[67] Although shortlisted among 15 films for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, it did not receive a final nomination.^[68]

Reception and Legacy

Critical and Public Responses

The documentary received widespread critical acclaim following its 2018 release, earning a 96% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes from 190 reviews, with critics consensus praising its surreal revelations on identity and reality.^[63] On Metacritic, it attained a score of 81 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, classified as "Universal Acclaim" for its compelling account of the triplets' reunion and the ensuing ethical exposures.^[69] Reviewers lauded the film's narrative drive and its illumination of secretive psychological research practices. The New York Times called it "engrossing and sometimes enraging," emphasizing the triplets' unwitting involvement in a long-term study.^[5] RogerEbert.com awarded three out of four stars, noting how the story evolves from joyful discovery into conspiracy and tragedy.^[70] The Los Angeles Times described it as "riveting," capturing a trajectory from comic disbelief to profound tragedy that evokes intense, conflicting emotions.^[71] Certain critiques highlighted perceived manipulative elements and incomplete analysis of the underlying science. In The Cut, a reviewer deemed it "the best documentary I've ever hated" for its insensitive depiction of one triplet's suicide by gun, prioritizing emotional impact over nuance.^[72] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency argued the film skews the nature-nurture debate toward environmental harm, underplaying genetic factors evident in the brothers' shared traits like mannerisms and IQ scores despite divergent upbringings, thus questioning its fairness to viewers.^[73] Public reactions emphasized shock at the study's deceptions, transitioning to outrage over consent violations and participant harm, as audiences grappled with the real-world implications for adoption and behavioral research.^[7] Audience approval stood at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes from 3,230 ratings, reflecting strong emotional resonance.^[74] The film's exposure fueled demands for transparency, including efforts to unseal the Neubauer study records archived at Yale University and embargoed until 2065.^[6]

Influence on Nature-Nurture Discourse

The 2018 documentary Three Identical Strangers illuminated the nature-nurture debate by chronicling the reunion of identical triplets Edward Galland, Robert Shafran, and David Kellman, who were separated at birth in 1961 and adopted into families of varying socioeconomic statuses as part of an observational study directed by psychiatrist Peter Neubauer. Upon reuniting at age 19 in 1980, the brothers displayed uncanny similarities, including synchronized mannerisms such as gesturing, walking styles, and even idiosyncratic habits like reading books back to front, alongside shared preferences for specific foods, smoking the same cigarette brand, and pursuing comparable careers in fields like law enforcement and finance.^[36] These parallels persisted despite distinct upbringings—one in a working-class home, another in a middle-class suburb, and the third in an upper-middle-class environment—suggesting that genetic factors exerted a dominant influence on their behavioral and cognitive development.^[36] The film's portrayal of these outcomes contributed to a resurgence in public discourse on behavioral genetics, aligning with empirical findings from twin studies that attribute 50-80% of variance in general intelligence (measured by IQ) to heritability, with monozygotic twins reared apart showing correlations of 0.70-0.80, comparable to those reared together.^[42] Personality traits exhibit heritability estimates of 20-50%, with minimal contributions from shared family environments after accounting for genetics, as evidenced in large-scale analyses of separated twins.^[38]^[43] Neubauer's study, though ethically contentious and never fully published, inadvertently provided a quasi-experimental demonstration that environmental differences alone could not account for the observed trait convergence, challenging mid-20th-century psychological emphases on nurture as the primary shaper of individual differences.^[36] Twin researcher Nancy Segal, in her examination of the case and related separations, has argued that such instances offer robust evidence for genetic predispositions in traits like temperament and cognitive abilities, where environments serve more to activate latent potentials than to override them.^[3] While some post-release analyses highlighted nurture's role in adverse outcomes, such as Galland's 1995 suicide potentially linked to familial stressors, the triplets' overall phenotypic matching underscores a gene-environment interplay favoring nature's causal primacy for many heritable characteristics.^[36] The documentary's widespread reception, including discussions in outlets emphasizing empirical genetics over ideological environmentalism, has bolstered advocacy for twin research methodologies and informed debates on adoption policies, heritability in policy contexts, and the limitations of blank-slate developmental models.^[36] The documentary The Twinning Reaction (2016), directed by Lori Shinseki, examined the same Louise Wise Services (LWS) twin separation study led by psychiatrist Peter Neubauer, featuring interviews with separated twins and highlighting ethical lapses in participant consent and long-term monitoring.^[26] Unlike Three Identical Strangers, which centered on the triplets' reunion and discovery, Shinseki's film emphasized the broader cohort of 13 monozygotic twin pairs deliberately placed into contrasting socioeconomic adoptive homes to test nature-versus-nurture hypotheses, revealing patterns of psychological distress including elevated suicide rates among participants.^[75] Psychologist Nancy L. Segal's book Deliberately Divided: Inside Neubauer's Controversial Study (2021) analyzed archival data from the LWS project, arguing that the separations yielded evidence favoring genetic influences on personality and intelligence over environmental factors, while critiquing the study's methodological flaws such as small sample size and lack of published results.^[3] Segal, drawing on her expertise in twin research, reconstructed findings from Neubauer's unpublished 10,000-page records—sealed until 2065 at Yale University—showing similarities in IQ scores (averaging 10 points higher than adoptive family norms) and behavioral traits despite divergent upbringings, though she noted confounding variables like selective placement by agency social workers.^[27] Journalistic probes, including a 1995 New Yorker profile "Double Mystery" by Lawrence Wright, first detailed Neubauer's involvement and the study's secrecy, interviewing survivors who reported inadequate debriefing even after reunions in the 1980s.^[76] A 2021 Quillette article revisited the LWS archives, documenting institutional reluctance to release data and attributing ongoing silence to reputational risks for involved academics and agencies, with no formal ethical review or participant compensation as of that date.^[26] Calls for redress, such as a 2019 STAT News op-ed by bioethicists, urged Yale and successor institutions to unseal records prematurely and conduct health assessments for the now-adult subjects, citing violations of modern standards like the 1979 Belmont Report on informed consent, though no government-led investigation has materialized.^[7] These efforts underscore persistent barriers to transparency, with Neubauer's estate and Yale maintaining seals despite survivor advocacy.

References

[1]
Three Identical Strangers (2018) - IMDb
Rating 7.6/10 (44,122) In 1980 New York, three young men who were all adopted meet each other and find out they're triplets who were separated at birth.Plot · Full cast & crew · Release info · Parents guide
[2]
The Truth About "Three Identical Strangers" | Psychology Today
Feb 7, 2019 · A successful documentary needs a compelling story and Three Identical Strangers ... The basic premise of the film, that the triplets' separation ...
[3]
Lessons From a Controversial Study That 'Deliberately Divided' Twins
Oct 18, 2021 · Key players included former New York City adoption agency Louise Wise Services and psychoanalytic psychiatrists Viola Bernard and Peter Neubauer ...
[4]
Three Identical Strangers (2018) - Plot - IMDb
In 1980 New York, three young men who were all adopted meet each other and find out they're triplets who were separated at birth.
[5]
The Surreal, Heartbreaking Case of 'Three Identical Strangers'
Jun 27, 2018 · Engrossing and sometimes enraging, this documentary tells of triplets who, after being separately adopted at birth, were later reunited.Missing: summary | Show results with:summary
[6]
Records from controversial twin study sealed at Yale until 2065
Oct 1, 2018 · The records will remain sealed until Oct. 25, 2065. The study came into the spotlight after this summer's documentary “Three Identical Strangers ...Missing: facts | Show results with:facts
[7]
Address the ethical violations that led to 'Three Identical Strangers'
Feb 7, 2019 · The documentary “Three Identical Strangers” chronicles triplets born in the 1960s who were separated as infants and adopted by different families.
[8]
The identical twins who discovered their secret sibling - BBC
Aug 17, 2022 · In the 1960s, a then well-respected adoption agency – Louise Wise Services in New York, deliberately split up at least 10 sets of infant twins ...
[9]
'Three Identical Strangers' Is A Tragic Masterpiece. As A Triplet, It ...
Jul 17, 2018 · Born July 12, 1961, these triplets who were separated at birth and reunited after 19 years are now the topic of the documentary "Three Identical ...
[10]
'Three Identical Strangers' Tells The Astounding Story Of Triplets ...
Jul 9, 2018 · The new documentary "Three Identical Strangers" centers on triplets adopted from the same agency in the early 1960s by three different families ...
[11]
UNK Psychology hosts free showing of 'Three Identical Strangers' at ...
Feb 16, 2019 · KEARNEY – In 1961, identical triplets were born in New York and adopted as infants by separate families, each child unaware that he had ...Missing: Robert Edward early
[12]
Documentary 'Three Identical Strangers': the triplets separated for ...
Nov 23, 2018 · David had gone to a working-class family, Eddy to a middle-class household and Bobby to parents who were upper-middle-class. The adoptive ...
[13]
The surreal, sad story behind the acclaimed new doc 'Three ...
Jul 1, 2018 · Kellman, Shafran and Galland were part of the study, each strategically placed in a blue-collar, middle-class and wealthy home. The disclosure ...Missing: childhood | Show results with:childhood
[14]
Three Identical Strangers | Preach The Story
The triplets, Eddy Galland, David Kellman and Bobby Shafran, grew up near New York city within a hundred square miles of each other. When nineteen year-old ...
[15]
'Three Identical Strangers' documentary tells triplets' amazing and ...
Jul 12, 2018 · "It got real very quickly." All three had been raised by Jewish families in the suburbs of New York City, yet had eerie similarities. They all ...<|separator|>
[16]
Separated Triplets Offer A Glimpse Into 'The Wild West Of Psychology'
Jun 30, 2018 · Identical triplets Eddy Galland (from left), David Kellman and Bobby Shafran were separated at birth and adopted by different families.
[17]
Three Identical Strangers - Boston Post Adoption Resources
Jul 26, 2018 · The true story of identical triplets, Bobby, David and Eddy, who were separated at birth and placed into three homes of differing socioeconomic backgrounds.
[18]
Defending the Indefensible in Three Identical Strangers
Feb 14, 2019 · Dr Viola Bernard was chief psychiatric consultant to Louise Wise Adoption Services. Her advice was to separate twins to unburden the mother. And ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[19]
What makes us? Nature or nurture? The DNA debate comes back to ...
Nov 11, 2018 · An extraordinary new documentary about identical triplets who were separated at birth has reignited the debate over the dominance of DNA in controlling our ...
[20]
Documentary tells dark tale of triplets separated at birth - AP News
Jun 28, 2018 · After the triplets found each other in 1980 (Shafran, remarkably, arrived at an upstate New York community college only to find everyone already ...
[21]
Three Identical Strangers Revisits a Shadowy Scientific Conspiracy
Jun 29, 2018 · Several years later, Triplets, the restaurant, closed its doors. The film implies that the relationship between the two surviving brothers ...
[22]
Separated-at-birth triplets met tragic end after shocking psych ...
Jun 23, 2018 · 19-year-old Robert Shafran drove from his home in Scarsdale, NY, to the Catskills for his first day at Sullivan Community College in 1980, he was shocked to ...
[23]
Three Identical Strangers: Where Are The Triplets Now? - Screen Rant
The remarkable documentary Three Identical Strangers follows the story of triplets separated at birth only to be reunited by coincidence many years later.
[24]
What Three Identical Strangers Reveals About Nature and Nurture
Aug 6, 2018 · The new documentary, Three Identical Strangers clearly conveys how it never serves anyone well to unnecessarily mess with nature.
[25]
'Identical Strangers' Explore Nature Vs. Nurture - NPR
Oct 25, 2007 · Peter Neubauer, a child psychiatrist, and Viola Bernard, a child psychologist and consultant to the Louise Wise agency, headed up the study.<|control11|><|separator|>
[26]
Shame and Silence: The LWS Twin Studies Revisited - Quillette
Sep 26, 2021 · The controversy comes from Louise Wise Services' (LWS) 1960s practice of intentionally separating newborn twins relinquished by single mothers.
[27]
The Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted and Reared ...
Child Development Center (CDC) twin project. The program was ...
[28]
[PDF] Experiment on identical siblings separated at birth: ethical ...
Several films, including Three Identical Strangers, examined ethical problems in an experiment that involved identical siblings who were adopted as infants and ...
[29]
Deliberately Divided—A Review - Quillette
Nov 8, 2021 · A Review of Deliberately Divided: Inside the Controversial Study of Twins and Triplets Adopted Apart by Nancy L. Segal.
[30]
The Real Twin Experiment In Three Identical Strangers - Refinery29
Jun 28, 2018 · “They found they laughed alike and talked alike. Their birthmarks and their IQs (148) were identical. They even claimed to have lost their ...Missing: habits | Show results with:habits
[31]
Twin Studies and The Nature versus Nurture Debate
“Three Identical Strangers” tells the story of how these identical triplets reunited and explores how they were separated. And more importantly, it raises a ...
[32]
The Shocking True Story of Three Identical Brothers In the 1960s, in ...
Aug 10, 2025 · ... IQ of 148. But beneath the surface, all three suffered ... In 1961, identical triplets Robert Shafran, Edward Galland, and David Kellman ...Missing: scores | Show results with:scores
[33]
"Three Identical Strangers" and the Nature-Nurture Debate
Jun 21, 2019 · The study of Jewish twins and triplets through the use of a method historically favored by eugenicists and the German “racial hygiene ...
[34]
Systematically Analyzing Three Identical Strangers
Aug 3, 2018 · Unless you have already seen Tim Wardle's new documentary “Three Identical Strangers.” In that event, you have my permission to read on.Missing: facts | Show results with:facts
[35]
Four Lessons from the Covert Separation and Study of Triplets
Jul 2, 2019 · The triplets were part of a covert research study by child psychiatrist Peter Neubauer who followed them up for many years to study gene-environment ...Missing: methodology | Show results with:methodology
[36]
What Light Does 'Three Identical Strangers' Throw on the Nature ...
Mar 26, 2019 · It does not mean that a person's ability or build can be dissected into genetic and environmental components because these effects are ...
[37]
“The History of Twins, As a Criterion of the Relative Powers of ...
Dec 19, 2017 · By studying twins, Galton introduced a way to examine the effects of nature and nurture in people who were born with similar traits, which ...<|separator|>
[38]
Beyond Heritability: Twin Studies in Behavioral Research - PMC - NIH
The heritability of human behavioral traits is now well established, due in large measure to classical twin studies. We see little need for further studies ...
[39]
Behavioral Genetics--A second look at twin studies
Apr 1, 2004 · Researchers have used twin studies to try to disentangle the environmental and genetic backgrounds of a cornucopia of traits.
[40]
the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart - PubMed - NIH
Oct 12, 1990 · Like the prior, smaller studies of monozygotic twins reared apart, about 70% of the variance in IQ was found to be associated with genetic variation.
[41]
Key Study: The Minnesota Twin Study of Twins Reared Apart
Feb 11, 2019 · Similar to previous research, this study also concluded that about 70% of differences between IQs in twins is due to genetic variation (70% ...
[42]
The heritability of general cognitive ability increases linearly from ...
The heritability of general cognitive ability increases significantly and linearly from 41% in childhood (9 years) to 55% in adolescence (12 years) and to 66% ...
[43]
Where Does Our Personality Come From? | Psychology Today
Aug 2, 2020 · Twin studies of the heritability on personality have found that between 15 and 55 percent of the overall variance in our personality is due to genetic ...
[44]
Genetics and intelligence differences: five special findings - PMC
Sep 16, 2014 · In the Twins Early Development Study for 3000 unrelated children, GCTA-based estimates of heritability were 21% (12%) for parental social class ...
[45]
A Critical Assessment of the Equal-Environment Assumption of the ...
The CTM rests on the equal-environment assumption (EEA) that identical and fraternal twin pairs experience equivalent trait-relevant environmental exposures.
[46]
Twin studies with unmet assumptions are biased towards genetic ...
Aug 28, 2020 · The results indicated that violations of the equal environments assumption yielded large overestimations of heritability and underestimations ...
[47]
[PDF] The Equal Environment Assumption in Twin Studies of Political Traits
Recent criticisms of the EEA in political science (Beckwith & Morris 2008;. Charney 2008), as well as responses to those criticisms (Alford, Funk, & Hibbing ...
[48]
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2471878
[49]
Conventional twin studies overestimate the environmental ... - Nature
Jul 17, 2023 · The CTD also assumes that rearing conditions are equal between both kinds of twins (the Equal Environments Assumption), therefore any additional ...
[50]
'Three Identical Strangers': The high cost of experimentation without ...
Jan 27, 2019 · CNN will air “Three Identical Strangers,” a documentary about an experiment in which adopted twins and triplets were secretly separated.
[51]
Three Identical Strangers: Was the twin separation study ethical?
Jul 2, 2019 · Three Identical Strangers: Was the twin separation study ethical? The documentary (spoiler warning) raises questions about adoption policies ...
[52]
ethical implications for researchers, universities, and archives today
May 4, 2020 · The study was primarily designed and directed by Dr Peter Neubauer ... The organisation coordinating the study donated the research records to ...
[53]
60 Years On, Twin/Triplet Study Still Raises Questions
Jul 2, 2019 · More and more data has shown that genetic variations get very much affected by the environment. Do you think Neubauer was right to seal the ...
[54]
Director Tim Wardle on 'Three Identical Strangers': “The Single ...
Jan 24, 2018 · Tim Wardle: I was head of development at the production company Raw, where my job was to find and develop ideas for broadcasters around the ...Missing: key | Show results with:key
[55]
Inside the making of 'Three Identical Strangers' - CNN
Jan 22, 2019 · “Three Identical Strangers” covers a lot of themes: medical ethics, mental health and the question of nature vs. nurture among them.
[56]
Primetime Emmy-nominated Feature Doc Three Identical Strangers ...
Apr 2, 2020 · Tim Wardle is a BAFTA-nominated documentary filmmaker and Executive Producer at Raw Productions. He has also worked as head of development ...<|separator|>
[57]
[PDF] Three Identical Strangers - Praesens Film
Prior to Raw,. Hawkins worked at RDF, Endemol and Zig Zag in the UK, producing and developing factual television for the. BBC, ITV, Sky One and Channel 4. Tom ...
[58]
Raw, Film4, SKE Plan Feature Based on Doc 'Three Identical ...
Jul 19, 2018 · The original doc was financed and executive-produced by CNN Films and UK broadcaster Channel 4. The film is going along very nicely at the ...
[59]
Director Tim Wardle discusses Three Identical Strangers
Jul 15, 2018 · Wardle's wildly entertaining film retraces the story of Bobby, Eddy, and David, three triplets separated at birth and sent to live and grow up ...
[60]
Interview: Tim Wardle on Making All the Connections in "Three ...
Jun 27, 2018 · The documentary development exec-turned-director talks about finding a story worthy of the big screen with the tale of three brothers separated at birth.
[61]
Tim Cragg shoots Three Identical Strangers - British Cinematographer
Mar 2, 2018 · Part emotional family drama, part conspiracy thriller, Three Identical Strangers evolves into a multi-layered deliberation on nature-versus- ...Missing: techniques challenges
[62]
Three Identical Strangers (2018) - Release info - IMDb
Release Date: United States January 19, 2018(Sundance Film Festival), United States March 10, 2018(Miami Film Festival), United States April 7, 2018(Cleveland ...
[63]
Three Identical Strangers | Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 96% (190) Critic's Name Ryan McQuade Publication InSession Film. TOP CRITIC. The ... Release Date (Theaters): Jun 29, 2018, Limited. Release Date (Streaming): Oct 2 ...
[64]
Three Identical Strangers - Box Office Mojo
Grosses ... BoxOfficeMojo.com by IMDbPro - an IMDb company. © IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Box Office Mojo and IMDb are trademarks or ...Missing: gross | Show results with:gross
[65]
Three Identical Strangers (2018) - Awards - IMDb
"Three Identical Strangers" has 12 wins & 58 nominations, including a DGA Award, a National Board of Review Top Five Documentary, and a Critics' Choice ...
[66]
Three Identical Strangers: Nominations and awards
Three Identical Strangers received 1 major nomination in 2019. 2019 British Academy of Film and Television Arts 1 nomination.
[67]
Three Identical Strangers - Television Academy
3 Nominations · Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program - 2019 · Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking - 2019 · Outstanding Picture ...
[68]
'Three Identical Strangers' makes Oscar shortlist for best documentary
Dec 17, 2018 · The film about Long Island triplets separated at birth is one of 15 movies eligible to be nominated for best documentary feature.
[69]
Three Identical Strangers Reviews - Metacritic
Best movie of 2018. Very nicely filmed, the nostalgia scenes look perfect. Like any good doc, it's all character and story and this one is amazing. Very very ...Three Identical Strangers critic ...Three Identical Strangers user ...
[70]
Three Identical Strangers movie review (2018) | Roger Ebert
Rating 3/4 · Review by Glenn KennyJun 29, 2018 · “Three Identical Strangers” takes a dark turn, not just into dysfunction and tragedy but into outright conspiracy. Wardle uses a strategy that ...Missing: critical | Show results with:critical
[71]
Review: 'Three Identical Strangers' is a riveting account of identical ...
Jun 28, 2018 · It careens wildly from near-comic disbelief to unspeakable tragedy, dragging a trail of intense, contradictory emotions in its wake. The story's ...
[72]
Three Identical Strangers Is the Best Documentary I've Ever Hated
Jul 18, 2018 · The documentary is essentially a summer blockbuster for history-of-psychology nerds. But its handling of gun suicide is infuriating.Missing: critical | Show results with:critical
[73]
Does 'Three Identical Strangers' play fair with its audience?
Aug 10, 2018 · This story of three triplets, reunited as teenagers after having been separated at birth, is certainly bravura, gripping filmmaking. But I'm not ...<|separator|>
[74]
Three Identical Strangers | Where to watch streaming and online in ...
Three Identical Strangers | Ratings & Reviews · 96 %190 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes® rating · 88 %3,230 reviews. Audience score rating.<|separator|>
[75]
Three Identical Strangers Has a Long-Lost Twin - Slate Magazine
Jun 29, 2018 · Three Identical Strangers has a long-lost twin. Two documentaries were born of the same story, but the films reached very different conclusions.
[76]
Double Mystery | The New Yorker
Jul 31, 1995 · Neubauer knew of only a handful of studies examining twins reared apart, and in many cases the twins being studied had been separated late in ...